Zhou Dynasty History

August 2016 - The Zhou conquered the Shang
Dynasty about 1100 BC (the traditional
date is 1122 BC). The Zhou said that the reason they were able to conquer
the Shang was that Heaven was on
their side. According to Chinese stories, backed up in some points by oracle bones, the first really independent king of the Zhou Dynasty was King Wu. According to the stories, King Wu led a big army with chariots down the south bank of the Yellow River. In 1046 BC King Wu crossed the Yellow River and conquered the Shang Dynasty at the Battle of Muye. Many of the Shang soldiers went over to King Wu's side, because the Shang emperor, Di Xin, was unpopular.

Historians call the first period of Zhou rule the Western Zhou, because at
this time the Zhou only ruled the western part of modern China. China
was divided up into about 200 little kingdoms, and then each of these
kings was under the Zhou emperor. Under each king were lesser lords, and these lords gave out land to individual farmers. In exchange, the lords collected some of the food as taxes.

During the Western Zhou dynasty, the emperors ruled from great walled cities like those of the Shang Dynasty. Western Zhou emperors relied on big strong armies to stay in power. These armies learned from Central Asia how to use a lot of chariots all together to win battles. The emperors led the armies out on campaigns almost every year, either fighting Central Asian invaders or keeping their kingdom together by preventing revolts. (Compare the Assyrians at the other end of Asia about the same time.)

Bibliography and further reading about the Zhou Dynasty:

Karen Eva Carr, PhD.Assoc. Professor Emerita, History
Portland State University

Read more

Professor Carr holds a B.A. with high honors from Cornell University in classics and archaeology, and her M.A. and PhD. from the University of Michigan in Classical Art and Archaeology. She has excavated in Scotland, Cyprus, Greece, Israel, and Tunisia, and she has been teaching history to university students for a very long time.

Quatr.us (formerly "History for Kids") is entirely supported by your generous donations and by our sponsors. Most donors give about $10. Can you give $10 today to keep this site running? Or give $50 to sponsor a page?